Spirit Of Branch
by ZimmyCakes
Summary: When Branch is captured by the Bergen military, he must find a way to escape and get back to his herd. Along the way, he'll make new friends, find the love of his life, and in all experience an adventure of a lifetime. Inspired by Black Raider.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _The story I want to tell you, can not be found in a book. They say the history of the West was written from the saddle of a rainbow horse. But it's never been told from the heart of one. Not until now._

 _I was born here. In this place that would come to be called the ''Old West''. But to my kind, the land was ageless._

 _It had no beginning and no end. No boundary between earth and sky._

 _Like the wind in the Buffalo grass. We belong here._

 _We will always belong here._

 _They say the mustang is the spirit of the West. Whether that West was won or lost in the end, you have to decide for yourself._

 _But the story I want to tell you is true._

 _I was there._

 _And I remember._

 _I remember the sun, and the sky, and the wind calling my name._

 _In the time when the wild rainbow horses ran free._


	2. The Birth Of Branch

A/N: To get any confusion out of the way for myself and the readers, I'm putting up a list of all the characters that everybody is going to play.

Branch-Spirit

Grandmother Rosiepuff-Esparanza/Spirit's Mother

Poppy-Rain

Creek-Little Creek

Cloud Guy-Buffalo

Wingdingle-Eagle

King Gristle Jr-Colenel

Bridget-Sargent

Felidala (character made and permission given by Black Raider)-Cougar

Other Rainbow Trolls-Other Rainbow Horses/Rainbow Trolls

 **Chapter 1: The Birth Of Branch**

It was a warm spring day in the Old West. A herd of wild rainbow horses were relaxing in a beautiful green field, feasting on the luscious green grass and relaxing in the shade of the trees around them. To the side of the herd, was a mare with a purple coat and a teal mane and tail. This was Rosiepuff, the boss mare of the herd. She was currently standing above her daughter, Leafy, who was currently laying in the grass in pain.

Leafy was a light blue mare with a green mane and tail. She was laying in pain in the grass because she was currently pregnant and in labor. Her mate and leader of the herd, Twig, was unfortunately killed by a felidala a few weeks before, so the only support that Leafy could get, was the support from her mother.

"You're almost there Leafy," Rosiepuff encouraged. "Push dear. Push!"

Leafy whinnied in pain as she followed her mother's instructions. Her cries called the attention of many of the other rainbow horses in the herd. They watched with curiosity as Leafy continued to give birth to the first foal of the season.

"Mother, I don't think I'm gonna make it." Leafy whispered as she gave another push.

"Don't be absurd Leafy." Rosiepuff huffed. "This foal is going to need you in order to survive. You mustn't give up."

"They'll be just fine with you as well, mother." Leafy smiled. "As the boss mare, you have all the experience of raising foals, and you still have some milk left to feed them."

"Leafy…"

"Take care of my foal, mother. Tell them, I love them."

"Do you at least have a name for them?"

"If it's a filly, name her Ivy. If it's a colt, name him… Branch."

And with that, Leafy fell to the ground and breathed her last breath. Rosiepuff sighed with sadness and pressed her face against her daughter's. The horses watching whinnied with mourning at the sight of the dead mare.

Suddenly, a new sound gained the attention of the herd and the boss mare. The sound of a foal's whinny. Rosiepuff lifted her head up and looked over to the foal, her heart fluttering.

The foal was a beautiful colt. His coat was blue, with his mane and tail being a darker blue. He blinked away the blurriness in his teal eyes and looked around, until his eyes fell upon the boss mare and grandmother.

"Hello little colt." Rosiepuff smiled at her new grandson. "I'm your grandmother Rosiepuff."

"G-Gra-Grand-mother?" The colt stuttered.

"That's right, dear. I'm going to take care of you from now on."

"What a beautiful colt." Complimented one of the other mares. "What's his name?"

"... Branch." Rosiepuff smiled. "His name is Branch."

"Branch?" The colt tilted his head. "... I like it."

Suddenly, Branch felt a song coming on. As rainbow horses, they tend to love singing and dancing, and Branch was a part of that custom now. Not that he minded. With the song bursting from his chest, Branch stood up and began to walk around on his spindly legs, trying to get used to them.

 **Branch**

 _Here I am, This is me_

 _I come to this world so wild and free_

 _Here I am, So young and strong_

 _Right here in the place where I belong_

 _It's a new world_

 _It's a new start_

 _It's alive with the beatings of young hearts_

 _It's a new day, In a new land_

 _And it's waiting for me_

 _Here I am_

Time went by and Branch grew with his new herd. His grandmother took incredibly good care of him, and he grew with more wild spirit than any of the other wild horses. It was winter and snow covered the ground. The herd was running free through the snow, and up on a snow bank, Branch ran alongside them. He whinnied, gaining the attention of his grandmother, who whinnied back at him. Again, Branch began singing.

 **Branch**

 _Oh_

 _It's a new_ _world_ _, It's a new_ _start_

 _It's alive with the beatings of young hearts_

 _Ya, It's a new day, In a new land_

 _And it's waiting for me_

 _Here I am_

More time went by and the snow began to melt. The herd was in a trove of icicles, drinking the melted drops that fell from the frozen spikes of water. Branch, however, was having a bit of difficulty, as his icicle was just too high up for him.

"Branch dear, why don't you go try to find one that's a little lower for you?" Rosiepuff suggested.

"Ok grandmother, I'll go do that." Branch agreed.

"Don't go too far."

"I won't!"

With that, Branch went in search of an icicle more at his height. His luck hit him when he found a huge icicle exactly at his height. Branch smiled and stuck his tongue out, licking the icicle. However, he didn't anticipate how dry the icicle was, and how wet his tongue was. His tongue ended up getting stuck to the icicle, unable to pull it away.

"Uh, 'ello!" Branch called out. "A 'ittle hel'! Granmoher!"

"Come along Branch!" Rosiepuff called as she and the herd began moving to a new field.

"Bu-Bu!" Branch called, still stuck. "Bu I stu!"

Suddenly, Branch pulled on the icicle so hard, he thought he would rip his tongue off. Instead, the icicle ended up breaking off of its branch, allowing the young colt to pick it up in his mouth and walk away with it.

"Nevermind." Branch chuckled, rejoining his herd with the ice.

Rosiepuff chuckled and shook her head.

Few more weeks went by and spring was nearing quickly. Most of the snow had melted away, as well as the ice off of the ponds and lakes. At the moment, Branch was playing in a newly melted pond with a couple of other rainbow foals.

Karma, an orange filly with a green mane and tail, and Harper, another filly with a blue, yellow, and pink paint coat, and her mane and tail with the matching colors. Branch nickered at his two new friends before lowering his head to the water, drinking the cold contents at his hooves, the fillies quickly followed suit, a little dehydrated themselves.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, making the pond swish a little. Karma and Harper's heads shot up as they looked behind Branch in horror. Branch, seeing the looks upon the fillies lifted his head up at them in question. Karma and Harper whinnied in a mixture of surprise and fear, quickly running up to the rest of the herd and hiding behind one of the other mares.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Branch asked them.

"L-Look behind you." Harper whispered to the young colt.

Surprised, Branch quickly spun around and gasped. Standing before him, was a huge herd of Cloud Buffalos! Branch was in awe as he stared up at the leader of the herd, who was literally just inches away from his face.

"Hey there little dude." The buffalo smiled down at him. "Name's Cloud Guy, what's your's?"

"Uh, Branch."

Cloud Guy smirked over at one of the other buffalos before giving Branch a kindly bellow in his face. Branch shook his head in surprise before looking back up at the leader. Suddenly, the young colt smiled as he whinnied back in Cloud Guy's face. He jumped himself up and pressed his forelegs against the buffalo, curiously studying the new animal.

"You're a curious little one, aren't ya." Cloud Guy laughed.

"I've never seen a Cloud Buffalo before." Branch explained. "It's quite fascinating to see a real one for the first time."

"Branch." Rosiepuff kindly called.

Branch smiled over to his grandmother, who gestured him to come back to the herd so that they could move on.

"Go along, young one." Cloud Guy smiled, gently pushing the young rainbow colt away.

"Ok." Branch smiled before running back up to his grandmother. "Grandmother! Did you see that?!"

"I most certainly did, sweetheart." Rosiepuff laughed. "Now come on, the herd is moving."

With that, Rosiepuff ran off, leading the herd behind her. Branch was about to follow her, but before he did, he looked back over to Cloud Guy.

"You got spirit kid!" Cloud Guy called to him. "Don't ever lose it!"

"I won't!" Branch called back, rearing up on his back legs and giving a mighty whinny to the wind.


End file.
